‘Today’ Report on Trayvon Martin Under Investigation After Accusation That Edited 911 Call Gave False Impression of Racial Profiling

A "Today" show report that included an edited version of the 911 call placed by George Zimmerman on the night he killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin is being investigated by NBC News, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The edited call gave the impression that Zimmerman was using racial profiling, the story notes. "We have launched an internal investigation into the editorial process surrounding this particular story," a "Today" representative said.

The report included a segment from the call in which viewers heard Zimmerman say, "This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black," the story says.

In the actual call, Zimmerman said, "This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about."

The 911 operator asked, "OK. And this guy, is he white, black or Hispanic?"

10 Comments

Not just NBC. Mainstream media must “fit the template” and the story angle for this one is set in stone: racist man shoots choir boy. The newspeople editing the 911 call no doubt cannot see anything wrong here. The alleged profiling is so obvious to them that editing the call did not change the meaning.

Right you are, Doug. The actual facts of this tragic incident, known only to a very few people, are not near compelling enough for the national feeding frenzy. Leave this poor people alone, for God’s sake….

Poor editing, for sure. You all tend to miss the point that this vigilante was told to stop following him. Anyone with sense would report to the police and keep an eye on him, NOT confront him. Mr. Zimmerman at the very least, should have been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Actually Tim, I’ve heard news reports that stated he DID stop following the boy and went back towards his vehicle, only to be confronted by the boy. I don’t know why everyone in this country can’t just leave it to the police and the boy’s family to sort out. In the end, it’s nobody else’s business but theirs.

And this poor, unsuspecting armed vigilante had his head pounded into the pavement and his nose broken only to miraculously heal up by the time he arrived at the police station. And his clothing spontaneously cleaned itself of his blood.
Somehow, I’m not buying that he did NOT confront Trayvon Marting and shoot him in the chest.
The problem is that the police are NOT sorting anything out, as you put it. And the people have a compelling interest in this case because it is the people who will ultimately be bringing the case against George Zimmerman to trial.
This is most emphatically not a private matter to be sorted out in between families.

The reason so many people don’t “just leave it up to the cops” is that local police seem to be more trigger happy than the gang bangers. Just look at the incident last November in White Plains, NY where police were called out to support an ambulance that had been called to the apartment of a 65 year-old man whose alert bracelet went off in the middle of the night. Hours later, the ex-Marine was dead after cops broke their way in, despite being told by the medical monitoring service and the victim that he was fine. They were called out to potentially aid a citizen in distress only to have their “help” put someone in the morgue. You have to be of a certain mindset to want to become a cop and increasingly that mindset is becoming “power hungry asshole”.